Plan for the worst, New Orleans mayor advises

Wednesday

May 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 27, 2009 at 10:09 AM

Whether the potential threat is pandemic flu, terrorism, a weather emergency or some other disaster, the mayor of New Orleans said Tuesday that Illinois officials should make sure to plan for the worst — just in case.

Dean Olsen

Whether the potential threat is pandemic flu, terrorism, a weather emergency or some other disaster, the mayor of New Orleans said Tuesday that Illinois officials should make sure to plan for the worst — just in case.

Ray Nagin should know. He became one of New Orleans’ faces of frustration, and the recipient of some of the criticism, over the way elected officials prepared for and responded to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“You might want to spend some time thinking about the worst-case scenario,” Nagin told about 200 people gathered at the Springfield Hilton. “Make sure your planning goes to that level.”

Nagin spoke at a luncheon as part of the state-funded Illinois Faith-Based Emergency Preparedness Initiative. The 52-year-old Democrat is entering his eighth and final year as mayor of a city that had a population of 500,000 before Katrina struck Louisiana.

Nagin received an unjust amount of criticism, according to another speaker at the event, Alphonso Jackson, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under former President George W. Bush.

Jackson said federal, state and local officials weren’t quick enough to react before, during and after the storm’s landfall Aug. 29 in Louisiana.

“There were many mistakes made,” he said. But he added that the federal response after the storm was hampered somewhat by the initial resistance of former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

“The local and state government must talk to each other,” Jackson said.

Nagin said he advocated for an immediate mobilization of federal troops to assist stranded and suffering citizens. But Blanco, after meeting with Bush on Air Force One a few days after the storm hit, delayed giving the necessary approval for 24 hours.

The Democratic governor’s hesitation delayed the federal response by several days, Nagin said.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Nagin told an interviewer at the time: “It would have been great if we could have left Air Force One, walked outside, and told the world that we had this all worked out. It didn’t happen, and more people died.”

Since then, New Orleans has come up with a better hurricane evacuation plan, one that includes helping disabled and low-income residents leave quickly, he said.

The city even worked out a way of evacuating pets, because people sometimes will remain in their homes and in harm’s way rather than leave behind a beloved cat or dog, he said.

“I am pleased to report to you that New Orleans is recovering her balance,” Nagin said. “New Orleans has been presented with a rare opportunity to rebuilt itself.”

Nagin said 75 percent of the city’s residents have returned since Katrina, jazz has returned to Bourbon Street, and there are many other positive economic signs.

Nagin was upbeat Tuesday despite his low approval ratings in New Orleans and his alleged involvement in an ethics scandal surrounding a Hawaiian vacation that was paid for by a company that did business with the city. The New York Times reported this month that a recent poll by the University of New Orleans listed Nagin as one of the city’s “biggest problems.”

Nagin told the Springfield audience that New Orleans’ bout with Katrina is a “story of tragedy and triumph. My prayer is you are ready for the ‘big one.’ If New Orleans can do it, so can you.”

Dean Olsen can be reached at (217) 788-1543 or dean.olsen@sj-r.com.

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